I don't have much to add, but this article is yet another programming example using a bookstore.
What is it about bookstores that make them ideal for explaining how a programming language, database or markup language work? I must have seen 100 different books and online articles that describe what they are trying to teach with a bookstore as the example.
Not that I'm complaining(being that I program for a bookstore). Its just that there seems to be a disproportionate number of bookstore programming examples compared to other types of businesses. Personally, I'd like to see more manufacturing plants(hospitals, casinos, stock markets, etc).
well, I didn't want to go into too much detail, but it was a combination of things - licensing, security, flexibility with implementaion.
I can tell you without a doubt that Apache runs rings around IIS in terms of its ability and security. That rewrite rule that I just demonstrated is one example - IIS can't do that. There are many other goodies(load balancing, using mod gzip, etc) that I haven't gotten to explore yet.
Perl is an order of magnitude better of a scripting language than ASP(which technically is a script host, not a language per se.) It has a superior regex implementaion, and the best set of libraries available to it that I've seen in any scripting language. Not to mention, its pretty damn fast.
MySQL I suppose compares the least favorably, but there are a few features that make it ideal as a web database. Security and ease of use are very good. It has good built in text indexing. Also, it has a LIMIT keyword that lets you do recordset paging in the database itself rather than in the code. I haven't seen this feature in any other database.
What was ASP is now Perl.(look at the link before you click, then look at the address bar after you arrive). What was SQL Server is now MySQL. And what was IIS is now Apache.
I'm sleeping much better these days now that I don't have to scramble every week there is another hideous security flaw announced. Not to mention they(MS) recently stated if they opened their source, even worse flaws would be revealed.
As the new Rush song(Secret Touch) says, "The way out is the way in".
to bring business to and revitalize a city. Especially a city like Pittsburgh, which I'm sure is trying to be more than just an old industrial steel center.
10 MB/s is almost 7x as fast as a T1. I could see this attracting lots of businesses, and lots of geeks to Pittsburgh.
Yeah it costs taxpayer money, but so does giving tax breaks, and so does building convention centers. To me this is a smarter way to attract business to your city. I hope others follow suit.
I found training new users is much easier than switching casual users who are already used to Office. Expect lots of griping from those people.
OTOH, its no problem for new users as they have to be trained to use company software anyway. In that case there really is no problem.
To be honest, once (normal, non-geeky)people get used to something, its hard to get them to switch. This is really not a question of which software is better or which is less of a financial burden. Case in point - I remember when we switched from a DOS version of 'Books in Print' to the Windows version. Although the Windows version was clearly superior, easier to use, and more powerful, users frequently griped, purely because it wasn't what they were used to.
YMMV of course, but I would start with new users and gradually make the switch.
I'm not going to tell you that going to college is the right or wrong thing for you. Just a couple of things to consider.
Slashdot posts these stories about college/no college or the job situation in general(in which having a degree or not seems to be a big factor.)
All I can say is look at these responses. I can tell you they are exactly the same in each article like this. The ones that scream 'go to college' all say to do it because it makes you look more valuable. Or because in a 'tight job market' having a degree makes it easier to get a job.
Every single one of these posters seems to view themselves in terms of how valuable they are to employers. Its really a subservient attitude, and I wish colleges would teach people to be more self-reliant rather than trying to mold themselvees into what they think the market wants. Really your true value comes from within - what you know, who you know, how well you can sell yourself.
In the professional world, your attitude shouldn't be "find someone who gives me a decent job". It shouldn't be waiting to say "how high" when an employer says "jump". Rather, you should look at a job as "how can I create value for my employer and its customers". Do that and you'll never need to worry about money. Because if you can prove to people that you can make them money or save them money by hiring you, you'll never be without work.
Your value is determined by what you can produce, not by what someone is willing to pay you based on a resume. If you think going to college will enable you to produce more throughout your career, by all means, do it. Personally, I plan on finishing college, but I don't have a plan to work for some big corp. I believe I can make more money and have a better career starting my own business, and I want the degree mainly for the knowledge and for the challenge. If you do go to college, do it for you, not for what others think of you.
no you haven't been trolled:) My post seems to be redundant now, but when I clicked the 'Reply' button there were only two posts in this story, you know, the 'phurst!' ones.
In retrospect I asked the obvious question, but I genuinely was/am interested in the justification for charging for this product.
What does Star Office offer that OpenOffice doesn't? Is there a significant level of support that users of office suites typically need?
As soon as I heard about Sun charging for Star Office, I switched over to OpenOffice. I haven't noticed any loss of functionality.
What I have noticed is that on a modern(500Mhz+) machine, Open Office is fast, relatively bug-free, and can open and save MSOffice documents easily. I rather like it.
I could see paying to support the project, but I don't see people paying $75 en masse for something they could get for free with OpenOffice.
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SourceForge facilitates agile software development, which in turn promotes creative collaboration and brings cross-team development projects to fruition, faster. The cost of software is based on developer efficiencies; therefore, reducing the time it takes to complete a project is key.
Managers and developers waste valuable time in meetings and teleconferences to coordinate their development activities. SourceForge addresses this issue by automating the collection of data and centralizing communication. With SourceForge, it's easier for developers to hand-off code to other team members, while managers have the necessary tools to make proactive decisions.
SourceForge provides the edge you need to stay two steps ahead. You will gain a more comprehensive and accurate vantagepoint of all cross-enterprise activities. With enhanced clarity, your organization has the ability to produce quality software in an efficient manner, while reducing excessive administrative overhead, unnecessary spending and duplicated efforts.
SourceForge is the leading collaborative software development (CSD) platform used by more than 400,000 developers worldwide.
VA Software provides SourceForge as an enterprise software product that integrates the essential tools for building applications. SourceForge enables companies to develop better software faster by bringing together the critical information and resources they need to collaborate more effectively across different locations, teams and participants.
By integrating tools for software developers, development managers and executives, SourceForge helps companies become more responsive -- and better leverage existing resources -- while reducing costs.
VA Software's flagship product, SourceForge Enterprise Edition, provides IT and engineering organizations with web-based tools that enable developers to collaborate, managers to monitor projects, and executives to obtain critical information on demand. Designed for installation behind customer's firewalls, SourceForge has the capacity to support development teams from 30 to upwards of 20,000 users across different locations, groups and participants. By enabling collaborative software development, SourceForge Enterprise Edition helps organizations become more responsive -- and better leverage existing resources -- while reducing costs.
Re:"Spider-Man" To Cost Economy $300,000,000
on
Review: Spiderman
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· Score: 1
well good luck in your job hunt. I hate seeing people with resumes like yours being unemployed for months on end:{
Re:"Spider-Man" To Cost Economy $300,000,000
on
Review: Spiderman
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· Score: 2
actually, if Slashdot shut down the day Star Wars premiered, it just might offset that...you do know/. is populated by geeks who are slacking off at work, don't you?
And goddamn it, the raw sense of excitement as he discovers his abilities is enough to make every guy wish he had those powers- swinging from building to building and howling like a mad freak.
Hmm...I'll take Kirsten Dunst. You can swing from building to building howling like a mad freak all you want.
just an FYI, that doesn't really delete your data, it just removes the pointer the OS used to find your data on the disk...the actual data is still there, and can easily be found.
You could get a "shredder" type program if you really want to get rid of that data. Even that won't stop a determined FBI agent with an electron microscope. You could encrypt it, but then you might get prosecuted if you didn't hand over the key when asked.
So, if you really have something to hide, a unique way of hiding it like the parent poster's just might be the best way to do it.
In fact, next time you call a big company for tech support, ask the attendant where he or she is speaking from - chances are you'll be surprised by the answer.
Nah. What surprises me is that they aren't already using prison labor. Its dirt cheap, the prisoners can speak better English than someone from a foreign country, and what are they going to do if they get fed up with their job, quit?
if you are looking for XML data, feel free to use this page(asp at the moment, but it will soon be redone in perl).
The important thing is it outputs XML, so if you want to build an interface to it for your own application, you can. Its not a 100% complete database, but it should give you basic information on any book available.
I wrote this specifically for external search engines back when XML was the new hot thing. Funny thing is, the sites that search us usually want an FTP data feed, so this doesn't really get used much. But again, feel free(be reasonable if you use a bot - maybe limit your bot to a search every 5-10 seconds, please).
I'm aware of the unsafe block. What I don't understand is why anyone would use it - they could just get a real C++ compiler instead. Code that uses unsafe blocks defeats the purpose of using C# in the first place.
Further, C# doesn't support everything C++ does. You can't use templates in C# - and thats what most C++ developers do these days - they create template classes.
Finally, a choice quote -
"C# is yet another proprietary language specialized for Microsoft's Windows system." - Bjarne Stroustrup, creator of C++
You are mistaken if you think C++ developers as a whole are going to embrace C#.
The point was - the whole thing about.Net supporting multiple languages is a farce. Whatever language you use has to interface with the CLR..Net's "multiple languages" are really the same language with different syntax. I predict we will soon see several language translators for the different languages for.net. They will not be very hard to write.
While I'm at it, allow me to predict that the one language.Net will kill is Visual Basic. You can't easily port a VB6 project to.net - it takes a significant rewrite. Microsoft basically screwed over their own developers and sabotaged the most popular programming language in the world.
Myth #6..Net will be accepted by users of non-Windows systems.
Despite the hoopla over Mono, its not likely that.Net will succeed on systems outside of Microsoft's control. Two reasons for this - 1 Microsoft will make certain that.Net running anywhere other than Windows is crippled in some way and 2 - people who already don't use Windows have a distaste for Microsoft products, generally speaking.
Myth #7 Java needs the desktop to succeed
Not so. Java's greatest success to date has been on the server, powering servlets and.jsp's. It is the overwhelming choice among corporate users standardizing on a development platform. Another factor to consider. Java will win where UNIX and Linux servers are used..Net will be used where Windows servers are used. IMO, the decisive factor between the.Net/Java battle will be what servers companies choose to buy. And anyone who wants a powerful, reliable server with good security built in is going Unix, unless they are trying to be cheap(Sorry. The truth hurts sometimes). Because Unix/Linux/IBM/Sun are winning where industrial strength servers are concerned, so too will Java win.
Myth #8..Net is better because it allows you to plug in multiple languages.
Um, well yeah, as long as they are singly-inherited languages that don't have pointers and don't support any unique features, I guess that statement is true. Otherwise you are really looking at a bunch of languages whose features are the same and only differ by syntax(unless they don't support all of.Nets features, in which case they are even more crippled). Don't expect Perl to be able to do all its cool tricks under.net, and forget about languages like lisp and scheme.
Java is five years ahead in this game, has widespread corporate acceptance, and the deciding factor is the server, where Microsoft is still way behind. If this is a horse race, my money is on Java.
Something most independent bookstores have in common is that they will fight tooth and nail to preserve your First Amendment rights. What Tattered just did was fight back what could easily be the first step on a slippery slope to eroding our rights. Think of what might happen next if Tattered lost. Publishers might become reluctant to publish so-called "subversive" material. Readers would have to be wary about which books they bought, knowing that the records could be subpeonaed.
Think about that the next time you buy books. The big chains, amazon, et. al do not have this tradition of protecting your information - in fact they are looking at ways to make use of it for marketing purposes. Its the independent bookstores around the country who really care about defending the First Amendment, because that reflects in the quality of literature we will see, and ultimately reflects on our individual freedom to write and speak as we choose. When was the last time you saw "Banned Books week" at amazon.com or Barnes & Noble?
Now we have a good legal precedent to back us up. Thanks, Tattered Cover!
Slashdot Mirror
What is it about bookstores that make them ideal for explaining how a programming language, database or markup language work? I must have seen 100 different books and online articles that describe what they are trying to teach with a bookstore as the example.
Not that I'm complaining(being that I program for a bookstore). Its just that there seems to be a disproportionate number of bookstore programming examples compared to other types of businesses. Personally, I'd like to see more manufacturing plants(hospitals, casinos, stock markets, etc).
I suggest you all check back here at a later date to check up on his progress.
Incidentally, most of the (relatively few)problems that Apache has had since version 1.3 are on the Windows version of Apache.
well, I didn't want to go into too much detail, but it was a combination of things - licensing, security, flexibility with implementaion.
I can tell you without a doubt that Apache runs rings around IIS in terms of its ability and security. That rewrite rule that I just demonstrated is one example - IIS can't do that. There are many other goodies(load balancing, using mod gzip, etc) that I haven't gotten to explore yet.
Perl is an order of magnitude better of a scripting language than ASP(which technically is a script host, not a language per se.) It has a superior regex implementaion, and the best set of libraries available to it that I've seen in any scripting language. Not to mention, its pretty damn fast.
MySQL I suppose compares the least favorably, but there are a few features that make it ideal as a web database. Security and ease of use are very good. It has good built in text indexing. Also, it has a LIMIT keyword that lets you do recordset paging in the database itself rather than in the code. I haven't seen this feature in any other database.
What was ASP is now Perl.(look at the link before you click, then look at the address bar after you arrive). What was SQL Server is now MySQL. And what was IIS is now Apache.
I'm sleeping much better these days now that I don't have to scramble every week there is another hideous security flaw announced. Not to mention they(MS) recently stated if they opened their source, even worse flaws would be revealed.
As the new Rush song(Secret Touch) says, "The way out is the way in".
complaining about "redundant article explains redundant story".
So neener, neener, neener!
10 MB/s is almost 7x as fast as a T1. I could see this attracting lots of businesses, and lots of geeks to Pittsburgh.
Yeah it costs taxpayer money, but so does giving tax breaks, and so does building convention centers. To me this is a smarter way to attract business to your city. I hope others follow suit.
OTOH, its no problem for new users as they have to be trained to use company software anyway. In that case there really is no problem.
To be honest, once (normal, non-geeky)people get used to something, its hard to get them to switch. This is really not a question of which software is better or which is less of a financial burden. Case in point - I remember when we switched from a DOS version of 'Books in Print' to the Windows version. Although the Windows version was clearly superior, easier to use, and more powerful, users frequently griped, purely because it wasn't what they were used to.
YMMV of course, but I would start with new users and gradually make the switch.
Slashdot posts these stories about college/no college or the job situation in general(in which having a degree or not seems to be a big factor.)
All I can say is look at these responses. I can tell you they are exactly the same in each article like this. The ones that scream 'go to college' all say to do it because it makes you look more valuable. Or because in a 'tight job market' having a degree makes it easier to get a job.
Every single one of these posters seems to view themselves in terms of how valuable they are to employers. Its really a subservient attitude, and I wish colleges would teach people to be more self-reliant rather than trying to mold themselvees into what they think the market wants. Really your true value comes from within - what you know, who you know, how well you can sell yourself.
In the professional world, your attitude shouldn't be "find someone who gives me a decent job". It shouldn't be waiting to say "how high" when an employer says "jump". Rather, you should look at a job as "how can I create value for my employer and its customers". Do that and you'll never need to worry about money. Because if you can prove to people that you can make them money or save them money by hiring you, you'll never be without work.
Your value is determined by what you can produce, not by what someone is willing to pay you based on a resume. If you think going to college will enable you to produce more throughout your career, by all means, do it. Personally, I plan on finishing college, but I don't have a plan to work for some big corp. I believe I can make more money and have a better career starting my own business, and I want the degree mainly for the knowledge and for the challenge. If you do go to college, do it for you, not for what others think of you.
In retrospect I asked the obvious question, but I genuinely was/am interested in the justification for charging for this product.
A lot closer to fair market value, assumming a fair market, of course.
As soon as I heard about Sun charging for Star Office, I switched over to OpenOffice. I haven't noticed any loss of functionality.
What I have noticed is that on a modern(500Mhz+) machine, Open Office is fast, relatively bug-free, and can open and save MSOffice documents easily. I rather like it.
I could see paying to support the project, but I don't see people paying $75 en masse for something they could get for free with OpenOffice.
Technology has become a primary asset in your organization, and software is at the core. Those who leverage software to respond to rapidly changing market demands will thrive, while those who don't may perish. SourceForge Enterprise Edition provides the flexibility and clarity needed in this day and age of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and co-development with strategic partners.
SourceForge facilitates agile software development, which in turn promotes creative collaboration and brings cross-team development projects to fruition, faster. The cost of software is based on developer efficiencies; therefore, reducing the time it takes to complete a project is key.
Managers and developers waste valuable time in meetings and teleconferences to coordinate their development activities. SourceForge addresses this issue by automating the collection of data and centralizing communication. With SourceForge, it's easier for developers to hand-off code to other team members, while managers have the necessary tools to make proactive decisions.
SourceForge provides the edge you need to stay two steps ahead. You will gain a more comprehensive and accurate vantagepoint of all cross-enterprise activities. With enhanced clarity, your organization has the ability to produce quality software in an efficient manner, while reducing excessive administrative overhead, unnecessary spending and duplicated efforts.
SourceForge is the leading collaborative software development (CSD) platform used by more than 400,000 developers worldwide.
VA Software provides SourceForge as an enterprise software product that integrates the essential tools for building applications. SourceForge enables companies to develop better software faster by bringing together the critical information and resources they need to collaborate more effectively across different locations, teams and participants.
By integrating tools for software developers, development managers and executives, SourceForge helps companies become more responsive -- and better leverage existing resources -- while reducing costs.
Learn how SourceForge and CSD are transforming innovation in the enterprise.
VA Software's flagship product, SourceForge Enterprise Edition, provides IT and engineering organizations with web-based tools that enable developers to collaborate, managers to monitor projects, and executives to obtain critical information on demand. Designed for installation behind customer's firewalls, SourceForge has the capacity to support development teams from 30 to upwards of 20,000 users across different locations, groups and participants. By enabling collaborative software development, SourceForge Enterprise Edition helps organizations become more responsive -- and better leverage existing resources -- while reducing costs.
well good luck in your job hunt. I hate seeing people with resumes like yours being unemployed for months on end :{
actually, if Slashdot shut down the day Star Wars premiered, it just might offset that...you do know /. is populated by geeks who are slacking off at work, don't you?
Hmm...I'll take Kirsten Dunst. You can swing from building to building howling like a mad freak all you want.
You could get a "shredder" type program if you really want to get rid of that data. Even that won't stop a determined FBI agent with an electron microscope. You could encrypt it, but then you might get prosecuted if you didn't hand over the key when asked.
So, if you really have something to hide, a unique way of hiding it like the parent poster's just might be the best way to do it.
Nah. What surprises me is that they aren't already using prison labor. Its dirt cheap, the prisoners can speak better English than someone from a foreign country, and what are they going to do if they get fed up with their job, quit?
yes. Its there because an ISBN is not reliable as a unique ID. Ignore it, it only means anything to us.
The important thing is it outputs XML, so if you want to build an interface to it for your own application, you can. Its not a 100% complete database, but it should give you basic information on any book available.
I wrote this specifically for external search engines back when XML was the new hot thing. Funny thing is, the sites that search us usually want an FTP data feed, so this doesn't really get used much. But again, feel free(be reasonable if you use a bot - maybe limit your bot to a search every 5-10 seconds, please).
don't forget the Macarena.
Further, C# doesn't support everything C++ does. You can't use templates in C# - and thats what most C++ developers do these days - they create template classes.
Finally, a choice quote -
"C# is yet another proprietary language specialized for Microsoft's Windows system." -
Bjarne Stroustrup, creator of C++
You are mistaken if you think C++ developers as a whole are going to embrace C#.
The point was - the whole thing about .Net supporting multiple languages is a farce. Whatever language you use has to interface with the CLR. .Net's "multiple languages" are really the same language with different syntax. I predict we will soon see several language translators for the different languages for .net. They will not be very hard to write.
While I'm at it, allow me to predict that the one language .Net will kill is Visual Basic. You can't easily port a VB6 project to .net - it takes a significant rewrite. Microsoft basically screwed over their own developers and sabotaged the most popular programming language in the world.
Myth #6.
Despite the hoopla over Mono, its not likely that
Myth #7 Java needs the desktop to succeed
Not so. Java's greatest success to date has been on the server, powering servlets and
Myth #8.
Um, well yeah, as long as they are singly-inherited languages that don't have pointers and don't support any unique features, I guess that statement is true. Otherwise you are really looking at a bunch of languages whose features are the same and only differ by syntax(unless they don't support all of
Java is five years ahead in this game, has widespread corporate acceptance, and the deciding factor is the server, where Microsoft is still way behind. If this is a horse race, my money is on Java.
Something most independent bookstores have in common is that they will fight tooth and nail to preserve your First Amendment rights. What Tattered just did was fight back what could easily be the first step on a slippery slope to eroding our rights. Think of what might happen next if Tattered lost. Publishers might become reluctant to publish so-called "subversive" material. Readers would have to be wary about which books they bought, knowing that the records could be subpeonaed.
Think about that the next time you buy books. The big chains, amazon, et. al do not have this tradition of protecting your information - in fact they are looking at ways to make use of it for marketing purposes. Its the independent bookstores around the country who really care about defending the First Amendment, because that reflects in the quality of literature we will see, and ultimately reflects on our individual freedom to write and speak as we choose. When was the last time you saw "Banned Books week" at amazon.com or Barnes & Noble?
Now we have a good legal precedent to back us up. Thanks, Tattered Cover!